Anyone who follows me know that I am a diehard comic book geek. I have been reading and collecting comic books since the 70s. I started with John Romita’s run on Spider-Man and Jim Lee’s Legion of Superheroes and graduated to Chris Claremont’s X-Men and John Byrne’s Alpha Flight and more. As a young man, I wanted to be a comic book artist and creator like Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, but sadly, my artistic talent wasn’t up to par. So, I took up the pen and typewriter to be a writer. So, my criticism of the recent string of comic book movies mainly comes from the writing.
First and foremost, they stray from the source material. I think everyone was excited to hear that The Flash movie was going to based on the Flashpoint comic series by Geoff Johns. However, what we got was hardly that. Yes, bringing back Michael Keaton as Batman for one last go around and then the cameo by George Clooney was fun, but it’s not enough. Flashpoint was gritty, unrelenting in its presentation, and we got none of that. We all wanted the Thomas Wayne Batman, filled with anger and regret, but all we got was more humor-filled “shtick” from two wise-cracking Barry’s.
Humor seems to be the driving factor behind these movies nowadays. It’s no longer a serious movie with bits of humor to move it along but instead a comedy movie with a few dramatic moments. Compare the first Thor movie to Thor: Love and Thunder. Jane Foster dying from cancer is a serious topic that the comics handled beautifully and yet we got this running joke about Thor being jealous of Mjolnir picking Jane over him.
I personally loved Black Adam with the introduction of my favorite superhero team, the Justice Society (the Smallville episode will always be my favorite). That was the best representation of Hawkman and Doctor Fate EVER on the screen, movie or TV, but it still lacked in the essential storytelling. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson could not carry this film. Then, you ruin it by setting up a Superman/Black Adam showdown before telling the world that Henry Cavil is OUT as Superman. Are you stupid or what?
At least Marvel has some continuity in the MCU. Yes, the Multiverse of Madness was disappointing, but then Spider-Man: No Way Home brought us the Spiderverse we wanted with Tobey, Andrew, and Tom and an “almost” Sinister Six. They have ways of doing something terribly wrong before auto-correcting itself into something right. Quantumania followed by GOTG Vol. 3 are good examples of how Marvel seems to get away with it.
But again, this could all be rectified with better attention to the writing. The Avengers movies had it all, from bits of comedy to serious gritty parts, scenes to cheer on, and scenes that brought us to tears. It can be done, and has been done, you just need to get back to the original formula. Stop trying to shove a hundred “Easter Eggs” into every film and just give us a good movie that we, as comic book fans, will enjoy with all the noobs.
Tell these directors and producers to STOP trying to improve on the original idea with their own. It doesn’t work. Can you imagine if Thor: Ragnarok was actually a prelude to World War Hulk and we got an actual badass arena match in true fashion to the comic? That could have been so much better.so
So please, before we get too deep into James Gunn’s new DCEU and Phase Six of the MCU, let’s sit down with a box of our favorite comic books and reread them. You’ll find the wisdom of Stan Lee bringing you back to nirvana once again.
Mark Piggott is an award-winning independent author of several fantasy/steampunk novels and short stories. A 23-year U.S. Navy veteran, his stories will take you from the shores of eternal Avalon to a dystopian steampunk future and other worlds.
The Forever Avalon fantasy book series—including Forever Avalon, The Dark Tides, and The Outlander War—are available online at Amazon and other booksellers. His fantasy steampunk novel, The Last Magus: A Clockwork Heart, is available through Lulu and other booksellers.
Cross over The River of Souls in a fantasy novella and the steampunk historical fiction, Corsair and the Sky Pirates from Curious Corvid Publishing. The Last Magus: Dragonfire and Steel and The Prometheus Engine: Book Four of the Forever Avalon Series, are coming soon. Stay tuned for more new fantastic stories from the imagination of Mark Piggott.
The first Star Wars book I ever read was “Splinter of the Mind’s Eye” and it was a gem. After seeing the original, I wanted more and couldn’t wait for more. This book have us fans more insight into the workings of the force, before we heard about midi-chlorians. It was also the first time we heard about a kaiburr crystals, which is weird because it’s not related to kyber crystals (i.e. lightsabers) but it’s close.
“Yet some men say in many parts of England that King Arthur is not dead, but had by the will of our Lord Jesu into another place. And men say that he shall come again, and he shall win the the Holy Cross.”~Sir Thomas Mallory, Le Morte d’Arthur
I first learned about the legend of King Arthur as a boy. Like any child of the 60’s and 70’s, it was taught to me through the magic of Disney. The Sword in the Stone (1967) is an animated classic, telling the story of Arthur and Merlin with a witch named Mim thrown in for good measure. It is a fun movie that taught this classic tale to kids like me. 
Most recently, you can find the enigmatic King Arthur, Mordred, Lancelot, and Merlin as “heroic spirits” in the Fate anime series. Arthur and Mordred are gender-swapped as powerful women, both of the “Saber-class” of heroic spirits. Although it was weird at first, they actually kept the legend intact through this twist. The conflict between these two is better explained in this anime than in any other story I’ve read or watched. It’s an amazing conflict that brings out the vulnerabilities in these characters.
But what happens when Avalon is forced back into the modern world of today? You’ll have to read 
The Death of Captain Marvel (1982) — Jim Starlin created the first Marvel “graphic novels” with this masterpiece bringing about the death of one of Marvel’s beloved characters. Although there have been others to call themselves Captain Marvel, including a new movie coming out with Bree Larson as the titular character, Mar-Vell was the original. After discovering he’s dying of cancer, Mar-Vell takes his final journey by taking on his nemesis, Thanos. as he heads into the afterlife. This is not only a classic comic, but a great glimpse into the psyche of Thanos and his obsession with death. It’s also a glance into the cosmic universe side of Marvel and into the love given from the entire roll call of the Marvel universe to the original Captain Marvel.
The Infinity Gauntlet (1991) — The majority of the Infinity War movie is based on this Marvel mini-series from 1991. After Mistress Death brings Thanos back from the dead, she orders him to eliminate half the universe, to correct what she calls a cosmic unbalance. To do this, Thanos decides he needs the six infinity stones to complete the task. Collecting the stones, he begins to not only wipe out half the universe, but to take over all of eternity as well. This is the quintessential comic that has the ENTIRE backstory you need, from the infinity stones, his obsession with death, the gathering of heroes, EVERYTHING. There are even scenes from the comics that will be seen (and have already been seen in the trailers) from the comics. You will be more than prepared for this movie , even if you just read this one comic.
Infinity (2013) — The main thing you’re going to find in this series is the villains that are supporting Thanos… The Black Order. The story behind Thanos searching for his Inhuman son, the destruction of Attilan, the release of the Terrigen Mist across the Earth is all inconsequential. The Black Order are the ones you’ll be interested in. Proxima Midnight, Corvis Glaive, Cul Obsidian (Black Dwarf in the comics) and Ebony Maw are his powerful and mysterious lieutenants, doing Thanos’ bidding without question. You’ll also see the Outriders, Thanos’ army (which appear in the battle of Wakanda scene in the trailer) and learn about them and their abilities. Again, you have to ignore the back story and just read it to learn about the Black Order. It will also give you a glimpse into something we may see more of down the road in the MCU… The Illuminati!
Mark Piggott is the author of the Forever Avalon book series. Forever Avalon is available for purchase as a book/ebook at 
James Cameron is a moron! I had to start out with that because, in my opinion, he is. Here is an Academy award winning filmmaker, who has created some of the most powerful women on screen and he says something stupid like this:
I love everything sci-fi/fantasy. I can remember reading X-Men and Superboy and the Legion of Superheroes comics in the 70s. I remember watching a wide variety of Japanese anime on UHF (if you don’t know what it is, look it up youngling) like Speed Racer, Marine Boy, Ultraman, Gigantor and others. I use to draw my favorite superheroes, cut them out, and play with them like action figures, and watch Superfriends every Saturday morning. I had all the “Glow in the Dark” monster models like Dracula, The Wolfman, and Frankenstein. I watched Hammer horror movies on late night TV, with Christopher Lee as Dracula. It was a great time to be a kid!
“I am Groot!” says it all, but for those of you who don’t speak Groot, let me give you my review of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, in theaters now! I want to start out with a slight confession … I’m not a big fan of Marvel Comics’ Guardians of the Galaxy comic book series. I grew up with the original 30th Century Guardians (some of who actually make an appearance in GotG Vol. 2) of Vance Astro, Martinex, Charlie-27, Starhawk, Nikki and Yondu). The new Guardians are a mish-mash of space-spawned superheroes that have had their origins altered and/or updated for both the new continuity and the films.
Mark Piggott | Fantasy & Steampunk Author 